Some players do the chords, and at the same time do the finger picking right on top.
What’s that called, if anything, and how on earth do they do it
Peace,
mangeorge
Lots of different things you might be describing:
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Arpeggiating a chord: playing a chord, but doing so by picking (with fingers or flatpick) each individual string of the chord.
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Various types of fingerpicking approaches - either with a flatpick and your free fingers, or with finger picks and a thumb pick, or with just your fingertips.
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Various types of fingerpicking styles - I never get them named right, but many different music genres require different approaches to fingerpicking - where you alternate between thumb-picking (which typically is on the lower, bass, strings, and using your fingers to play the upper strings).
In some ways, it is no different from piano - both require a type of coordination and rhythm where you are picking out a bassline while also playing the song’s melody on the higher strings. It takes a bit of practice, but really is do-able.
There are all kinds of coordination required when playing - especially when you are singing, too. Playing something like Message in a Bottle on guitar while singing seems impossible at first - you have the riff, which requires a bit of a stretch with your fingers and a strict, picked structure, and the emotive singing on top - but once you get the hang of it, it’s like riding a bike…
In addition to the above, you may be describing a technique, used in folk and bluegrass, known as “crosspicking”. Mother Maybelle Carter and George Shuffler both used the technique. Here is a video of Shuffler discussing and demonstrating the technique. I have also heard the technique in Neil Young’s guitar work.
Ummm…You will need this…
Thanks, Twicks.
Thank you guys. This is exactly what I was asking about.
A good example is Mother Maybelle Carter playing Wildwood Flower.